The Bendery fortress, while maintaining its historical basis, continues to be filled with modern elements detailing and illustrating various pages of the chronicle of the Pridnestrovian region. The Pantheon of Russian Glory, founded in 2009 at the southern wall of the citadel, which began with the construction of a monument to Field Marshal Kutuzov, is gradually expanding. There are portrait sculptures of the greatest commanders – Suvorov, Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, Raevsky, Wittgenstein, Miller, Barclay de Tolly, Kulnev. The pantheon has been replenished today with a portrait sculpture of Prince Vorontsov, a successful military leader and one of the most successful governors-general of Bessarabia and Novorossia.
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky, the initiator of the creation of the Pantheon of Military Glory, as well as, the revival of the Bendery fortress and its development as a historical, educational, leisure and tourist center in general, took part in the solemn ceremony of unveiling the monument to Mikhail Vorontsov. Vadim Krasnoselsky with his wife arrived at the event. The First President of the PMR, Russian guests, heads of state and local authorities were among invited. Pupils of the Tiraspol Suvorov Military College and the Republican Cadet Corps, cadets of the Institute of Law of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Military Institute, as well as servicemen of the Guard of Honor of the PMR Ministry of Defense took part in the ceremony.
Much was said at the event about the role of Mikhail Vorontsov in the socio-economic development of the region. Particular attention was paid to his military merits. Vadim Krasnoselsky focused on the merits in his speech.
“Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov is a general, a brave warrior and a very competent commander. He was enrolled in the Dragoon regiment from birth – these were the rules of that time. He devoted the beginning of his career to the army, to the defense of the Fatherland. Mikhail Semenovich personally took part in many wars in which the Russian Empire took part in the early 19th century. I would like to especially note the participation of Mikhail Semenovich in the war against Napoleon and the battle he fought at Borodino. General Vorontsov commanded a division of grenadiers and defended the so-called Bagration Flèches, that is, he was in the direction of the main attack of the French troops. Four thousand grenadiers were in the subordination of Mikhail Semenovich. Only three hundred out of the four thousand generals, officers and soldiers subordinate to Mikhail Semenovich survived. General Vorontsov personally raised the division into battle, took part in hand-to-hand combat, and received a penetrating bayonet wound. It says a lot. Vorontsov is not an armchair general, he is the general who raised people into battle and personally participated in the fight against the enemy.
I would like to note one more deed of Mikhail Semenovich that characterizes him as a person. He had an estate in Moscow. When the city was occupied by the enemy, two hundred carts were sent from the villages for the removal of personal belongings of Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov and his family. He refused to take his personal belongings, and he took out the wounded generals, officers and soldiers from the city on these carts – those who survived after the defense of the Bagration Flèches. He worried about the health of every general, every officer and every soldier. He was appointed governor-general of Novorossiya, Bessarabia after that. No matter what the hand of this person touched, everywhere there was effect, success, prosperity. The memory of his attitude towards people, regardless of class, still remains in Odessa – in legends, in stories. When Vorontsov died, the inhabitants of Odessa came up with the saying "God is high, the king is far away, and Vorontsov is dead". So they said, pointing to the thread of this contact between people and the authorities, which was cut off by his death. Vorontsov is a Count, His Serene Highness Prince, Field Marshal, a brave warrior, an intelligent general, a competent leader. Of course, such a person is worthy of memory”, the PMR President emphasized.
One of the honored guests of today's celebration and a direct participant in the opening ceremony of the portrait sculpture of Count Vorontsov is Valentin Trubchanin, General Director of Moldavian Hydroelectric Power Plant CJSC. Inter RAO Unified Energy System of Russia, which includes the Moldavian Hydroelectric Power Plant, provided financial support for the implementation of this project. Valentin Trubchanin emphasized that the energy holding supports numerous initiatives, actions and projects aimed at educating, preserving the cultural and historical heritage, and reminding us of the great deeds of ancestors.
Vadim Krasnoselsky expressed gratitude to everyone who took part in the implementation of his idea of perpetuating the memory of Mikhail Vorontsov.
There are plans to further fill the Pantheon of Russian Glory. A well-deserved place in this row will be occupied by portrait sculpture of such commanders as Mikhail Dragomirov, Timofey Zbievsky, Matvey Platov and Ivan Inzov.
